For those of you who may not know me—I am a woman. I’m a long-time follower of Christ, an educator, a traveler, a scrapbooker, an avid reader, a crafter… I could go on. But many of the identities and interests God has given me have often been complicated by that first one: I am a …
Category: College Teaching
Singles Conference
Evidently, this particular post needed more than three years of contemplation before coming together. That fact gives me hope that Silent Grief will one day be written too! Because the reality is that both of these topics related to Singleness need to be voiced and yet the words needed to articulate these intimate issues fail …
Gen Beta
“What will the future bring for beta babies?” Wait, what?!? Who’s already naming babies born today as Gen Beta? A desire to mindlessly watch football during the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day quickly pivoted into a rabbit trail of endless questions running through my head. Clever marketing strategy, Prudential, and now this college professor, …
Surreal Experience
Think back to a moment in your life that felt Surreal. How would you describe it to others? Maybe you were piloting a Bonanza without instruments, standing over the edge of a cliff in the Grand Canyon, or witnessing something transpire that could only be explained through the supernatural existence of a divine and holy …
R&D
What brand of toilet paper do you use? Do you invest in Quilted Northern or Charmin? Will any old brand suffice? To be honest, I truly do not care about your brand choices in TP. That’s private information for yourself and for the data mining companies to determine which coupons to place in your mailbox; …
Unreasonable Hospitality
Do you ever have random memories from childhood pop into your head? Obviously, something triggered the back recesses of your brain, but you really aren’t sure what caused the memory to appear? At some point in the tween years, Denise and I played hotel in our Munford home, using the wood-burning stove as the front …
For Others
“How may I serve you?” If we were playing trivia, you might be tasked with connecting this phrase with a particular restaurant. Do you know which one uses this question to focus on excellent customer service, along with “My pleasure”? Many organizations use taglines, mantras, and Catchphrases (See Lesson of the Slime Mold) to unite …
Cloud of Fear
Have you ever experienced a season in your life when you were being smothered by a Cloud of Fear but couldn’t necessarily give name to the experience? You perhaps had an awareness that something was askew, just a bit out of balance, but you wouldn’t choose the word fear as a descriptor. But as the …
Backwards Thinking
The scorebook does not hold the significance it once did in the game of basketball as more emphasis today is placed on the use of video review and computerized statistics to keep track of what is happening on the floor; however, I still enjoy the duties of being the official scorer. And when you are …
Unpredictable Future
As another page is torn from the 2024 calendar symbolizing the movement towards the close of another year, I should no longer be surprised by how quickly time seems to pass. Moving into a new month, decorating for the holidays, and making entries into a crisp, new 2025 day planner, these activities trigger a time …